Advanced Combat Uniform for Medics

ABSTRACT

An advanced combat clothing system for military medics and medical professionals actively involved in the field of combat while providing acute emergency care for wounded soldiers. The Advanced Combat Uniform for Medics also referred to as the ACUM consists of a pair of trousers, a long sleeve shirt and a unique pocket receptacle invention which stabilizes the content within the pockets. The ACUM was invented to replace the use of roll-up bags and back packs used to carry the tools and supplies of the military medics during combat zone engagements. 
     The ACUM invention was strategically designed to disburse the weight of the medical gear over the entire body, therefore, decreasing the entire weight load from exerting pressure over the lumbar and thoracic spinal locations. Additionally, by disbursing the pay-load or weight over the entire body, the military medic will be able to maneuver and combat with more accuracy and precision. 
     The ACUM invention has a unique pull cord system in which the military medic can access lifesaving medicines and triage supplies at the pull of a cord. The ACUM can be made using any fabric including the digital camouflage material used and preferred by military personnel. The ACUM can hold over  100  required medical items while providing extremely fast easy access to the medical supplies carried by the military medics. 
     The ACUM invention was designed to systematically place all of the medical supplies carried by the military medic in strategic areas around the wearer&#39;s body. The ACUM can be made to fit any size, male or female. This combat uniform can be produced relatively quick and easy using a line production clothing protocol. Lumbar and spinal injury affects a large population of military personnel at one time or another, by disbursing the weight or load of the military medics gear; this will significantly reduce the risk of developing lumbar spinal disease in general.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Healthcare providers working in the uniformed organizations such as the U.S. military, United Nations, and doctors working in the combat field zones are presently using back packs and roll-up saddle bags to carry their medications and emergency medicine items. These bags are centrally located on the upper back of the soldiers which can cause fatigue and increase spinal disease secondary to toting the bag with all its weight on the back.

Some medics tend to loose their back-pack supplies during cases of emergencies and heightened alerts. Some medics complain that they are forced to carry heavy weight bearing issued military and medical items which causes fatigue and spinal injury leading to chronic pain. In a combat exercise, the medic must provide medical access to the injured soldier mostly by un-strapping his/her back-pack roll and then rolling out their medical bag in order to find out what equipment or medicines will be needed to triage the injured soldier.

The Advanced Combat Uniform for Medics was designed to facilitate fast access to emergency medicine items on the battle field and systematically disperse the weight of the medical gear proportionally over the entire body of the military medic. The ACUM clothing invention also provides quick rapid access to any equipment or medication needed during the time of an emergency.

Accordingly, having rapid access to emergency medicine triage gear and distributing the weight of the medical gear proportionally over the entire body of the medic; this will lead to a better medical response therefore reducing lost time and chronic injury to the military medics in general. The ACUM invention restores organization to the military medics by allowing them to store their medical supplies within their uniforms for fast and easy access transitions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The United States military issues standard clothing for their soldiers and military medics called “Battle Dress Uniforms” (BDU's) and Advanced Combat Uniforms (ACU's). The military have standard dress codes in effect for safety and security reasons. The U.S. military use different patterns of the camouflage digital 50/50 nylon fabrics in all of their clothing protocols today. The military squad or platoon likely consists of a military medic, radio communication specialist, a sergeant or commander, and a team of trained soldiers in the field of combat. The military medic position is to care for at least twenty to thirty soldiers in the combat zone by providing emergent and non-emergent medical treatment. Some military medics do not carry weapons while on the other hand; other military medics may choose to carry weapons. The military medic principle job is to care for the wounded soldiers and provide emergency medical treatments to any soldier requiring treatment. The ACUM invention would let the military medic do all of the above duties plus much more. Having the medical supplies now dispersed evenly in secure pockets throughout the ACUM, the military medics will be able to maneuver much faster, jump much higher, run a lot faster, initiate hand to hand combat procedures with more accuracy, and perform agility maneuvers without losing supplies from the ACUM. The military medic also has quick access to emergency IV supplies and splints by the pull of a cord.

Each pocket for the ACUM was specifically made and engineered to carry a specific required necessary item used by the military medics. Many of the ACUM pockets use zippers and/or Velcro to secure the pocket's content. All of the pockets also were designed to have flap covers which help to add extra security to the pockets. The military medic must carry over fifty medical items and supplies as standard gear. The ACUM invention lets the military medics carry all of these supplies comfortably while having easy rapid access to the life savings tools that they need while in the combat field without relying on the roll bag or back-pack packaging system. The ACUM can be made in any size and the pants can be made to fit inside of the soldier's boots or on the outside. The pants can be made to use a belt, draw string, or an elastic material as an option for the pants waist. The ACUM also have a unique pull cord system, as described, where the life saving supplies carried on the back of the shirt can be accessed by a simple pull of the cord attachments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is a front and rear elevational views of the trousers and shirt preferred embodiments of the present invention; The Advanced Combat Uniform for Medics.

FIG. 3 is a right side expanded elevational view of the shirt (shown in FIG. 1) which demonstrates the pull cord assembly mechanism and its attachments to the medical supplies located in back of the shirt.

FIG. 4 is a right side elevational view of the trousers and shirt of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the pocket receptacle showing two receptacles.

FIG. 6 is a right side elevational view of the pocket receptacle invention for stabilizing the pockets cargo.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the pocket receptacle of the present invention.

FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 drawings have additional line representations: Small dots on the drawings represent stitch lines patterns on the clothing. Broken lines represent the fabric with male and female Velcro or attachments used in conjunction with Velcro. The tracked lines on the garment represent the pull string line or rope used in conjunction with the pull cord assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, this illustrates the preferred embodiments of the Advanced Combat Uniform for Medics 9, having pants 10, and a shirt 37, with sleeves 25, each made of a camouflage digital fabric used by military personnel. Each component of 10, 37, and 25 can be provided specifically for use by men, women, or both. The trousers and the shirt weight combined is approximately two pounds and fourteen ounces. When the uniform is completely loaded with the recommended required gear, including two full canteens of water, the combined uniform and equipment weight is approximately fourteen pounds.

The pants 10 (shown in FIGS. 1 and FIG. 2) may be provided in sizes such as small, medium, large, and the like for corresponding to a wearer's lower body size. The pants may have an elongated and optionally narrowed bottom section 8 for tucking into the wearer's boots 22. The pants 10 have a waist 21 with belt loops 20 for receiving there through a conventional belt. The pants 10, shirt 37, and sleeves 25 may have a surface pattern or design confirming to the uniform requirement of an organization. Such patterns may include camouflage, United Nations blue, Desert Storm sand color, and/or like.

The pants 10 (shown in FIG. 1) have a top pocket 12, 12A, 12B with a flap 11 to help secure the pocket. The pocket 12, 12A, 12B can be additionally secured by Velcro or Zipper technology. Additionally, each pocket has an adjacent corresponding identical pocket on the opposite side of the pants 10. Pockets 12, 12A, 12B is a divided large cargo pocket and is vertically divided into three smaller pockets being 12, 12A, and 12B.Pocket 12 was invented to hold and fit a large tourniquet, while 12B was invented to store a cell phone or pager, and 12A was invented to store a pen light or similar item. Additionally, pockets 12, 12A, and 12B are also located on the opposite side of the trousers but the pockets were invented to stores different supplies, in this case, the emergency oral airways and the nasal pharyngeal airways were designed to fit these pockets. Additionally, below pockets 12, 12A, and 12B is a catch strap 13 which can be used to temporarily hold scissors, injections, key rings, or they can even be used as an arm rest; by placing the thumb inside of the catch strap loop. Below the catch strap 13 is another large cargo pocket 15 with a flap 14 which was invented to carry a compact surgical instrument kit for surgeries on the battle field. Additionally, the adjacent pocket 15 on the opposite side of the trousers was invented to store an AMBU CPR Pocket Rescue Mask with an oxygen inlet. Below pocket 15 is an additional large cargo pocket 17 with a flap 16 which was invented to store a lightweight emergency medical suture kit and Celox clotting factors for treating deep cuts. Additionally, the adjacent pocket 17 on the opposite side of the trousers were invented to store and carry three standard Bloodstopper trauma dressing packages used frequently by military medical officers. On the top of pants 10, located medially, there's an additional pocket 18 with a flap 19 which is a smaller pocket invented to carry packaged emergency medications, such as: Tylenol, Motrin, Vicodin, etc. Pocket 18 and the adjacent opposite pocket 18 on the other side of the trousers can hold up to ten blisters containing emergency medications used in the combat zones.

The rear of the trousers 10 (shown in FIG. 2) has a rear pocket 41 with a flap 40 which also stores small identification information and/or a small writing booklet to log information. The pocket 41 on the opposite side of the trousers can be used in similar fashion. Below pocket 41 is a large cargo pocket 4 invented to store a one quart canteen water supply, additionally, another one quart canteen can be placed in the other pocket 4 on the opposite side of the trousers. Pocket 4 also has a flap 5 which helps to secure the cargo. Additionally, attached to the pocket 4 is another smaller pocket 43 which also has a flap 42, these two pockets was invented to store at least 12 pair of single packed latex gloves for emergency use. Additionally, (Shown in FIG. 1) below the smaller pocket 18 is another larger cargo pocket 7 with a flap 6. Pocket 7 and the opposite adjacent pocket 7 on the other side of the trousers were invented to use as reservoir pockets; to hold and carry other items of personal or custom use. The bottom of the pants has a hem 23 which can also be placed outside or inside or even tucked 8 into the wearer's boots.

The Shirt 37 shown in (FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) has two sleeves 25 bilaterally with two upper top arm pockets 32 with flaps 33. The arm sleeve pocket 32 and the opposite adjacent pocket 32 was invented to carry inject able emergency medications for pain or antibiotics. Each pocket 32 can store and hold five military issued injection syringes. For easy accessibility and stability, these pockets use a receptacle device (shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7) which helps to organize and stabilize the injections from moving around in the pocket 32 during combat procedures or drills. Additionally, below pocket 32 is a smaller forearm pocket 34 with a flap 35 which was invented to carry a military medic bandage scissors. The opposite adjacent pocket 34 on the other sleeve was invented to carry a utility knife or similar tool required and used by the military medics. The lower pockets 34 also use the receptacle device to keep the cargo stable and secure. The sleeve pocket receptacle is a removable device (shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7) which has an outer membrane 47 and a wall thickness 48 which is made of a very thin card stock material and has the same dimensions of the pocket in which it is used. The stabilizer 49 has a wall thickness 52 and a square tubing shape with a top opening 50 and a bottom opening 51. The stabilizer 49 can be made to contour any tool shape and multiple stabilizers can be attached to the pocket membrane 47.

The shirt 37 also have two very large cargo pockets 27 with a flap 28 used to carry and store three 4″ Super Wrap Ace Type Elastic Bandages and three 1″ roll tape used by the military medics. The Ace Wraps and Tape Rolls are packaged individually using a carded Ziploc system which prevents the items from moving around in the pockets as well. Additionally, the opposite adjacent pocket 27 was invented to store three large Kerlix bandage rolls and six 4×4 gauzes used by most medics. Right above the pocket 27 is a smaller pocket 29 with a flap 30 which are accessory pockets and can be used to store any items desired by the military medics. The shirt 37 has a collar 36 and can be made to button up using military style buttons, or using the art of zippers technology. On the top of shirt 37 is a pull card assembly 31 with a string attachment 31A. The pull cord 31 and the string attachment 31A (shown in FIG. 3) demonstrate how the pull cord works. The pull cord is attached to the shirt 37 using a Velcro male 45 and female 45A attachments which holds the pull cord 31 in place. The string 31A subsequently connects to a pre-packaged IV Kit 44 consisting of IV Fluid, Line, Needle, Gloves, and Tape.

When the military medic pull upwards on the cord 31, this allows the content of 44 to place pressure against the flap of 24 therefore opening the flap and expelling the content 44 to the front of the military medic via secure line. The string 31A is invisible and can not be identified from more than five feet away. A simple view of the pull cord and string attachment (shown in FIG. 3) depicts the pull cord 31, the pull string 31A, and the content package 44. Additionally, the string can be made using any material or fabric which can withstand the pressure of the pull cord and the weight of the content.

The back of the shirt 37 (shown in FIG. 2) have a flap 24 and two large cargo pocket 38 with an adjacent opposite pocket 38 on the other side. The flap 24 is one continuous flap and was invented to cover both pockets of 38. Both the pockets 38 are used to carry and store the IV kit assembly. The pull string 31A goes underneath the flap 24 and into the pocket 38. Additionally when the pull string 31A is pulled upwards, the flap 24 will go up first and then the content 44 will come out of the pocket 38. Just below the large cargo pockets 38 is another large horizontal pocket 39 which was invented to store and carry the emergency splint boards.

The shirt 37 (shown in FIG. 3) demonstrates how the pull cord 26 attaches to the pull string 26A which ultimately attaches to the splint board 46. The pull cord 26 has a Velcro male and female attachment assembly like that of pull cord 31. When the pull cord of 26 is pulled away from the body in an abducted manner, this will cause the contents of 46 to come out of the cargo pocket 39 therefore expelling the contents of 46 on the side of the military medic.

While the ACUM invention has been described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular forms set herein, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The ACUM was Invented to Carry All of the Military Medic Supplies Below:

1. 2 packs of 500 ml 0.9% Sodium Chloride IV Bags

2. 2 packs of 2.6 meter IV Line with Adapter and Retractable Collar

3. 2 packs of ¾″×24 g IV Catheters for IV Placement

4. 2 packs of Padded Universal Aluminum Splints

5. 3 packs of 4″ Super Wrap Ace Elastic Bandage

6. 3 Rolls of 4″×4 yds. Large Kerlix Bandage Rolls

7. 2 packs of Rush Nasopharyngeal Adjustable Flang Airways

8. 8 packs of military issued antibiotics/pain injections

9. 3 Rolls of 1″ Non-Irritating Paper Tape

10. 5 piece ADC Oral Airway Kit of Various Sizes

11. 1 piece Trauma and Bandage Scissor Accessory

12. 1 piece Rothco U.S. Army Folding Knife

13. 1 piece Thigh/Leg Velcro Tourniquet

14. 22 piece surgical Instrument Kit for Emergency Surgeries

15. 1 Emergency Suture and Syringe Kit for Medics

16. 1 pack of Celox for Blood and Bleeding Controlled Wounds

17. 1 ADC Adlite II Reusable Penlight

18. 1 Standard Cell Phone or Pager Without Holder

19. 1 AMBU CPR Pocket Rescue Mask W/02 Inlet

20. 6 packs of 4″×4″ Sterile Sponge Gauze (12 Ply)

21. 3 packs of Bloodstopper Trauma Dressings

22. 12 package pairs of Sterile Latex Gloves Disposable

23. 12 packs of Emergency Oral Medicines

24. 1 set of Pencil and Note Pad piece for writing or documenting

25. 1 Wallet or Small Identification Pouch

26. 1 piece Lensatic Military Marching Compass

27. 2 piece set of 1 Quart Black Plastic Canteen Military Issued

28. 1 piece Genuine Issue Magnesium Survival Fire Starter

29. 2 large cargo pockets for additional cargo 

1. A newly designed combat uniform for military medical officers which will allow them to store and carry all of their required military issued medical supplies within strategic pockets within their uniforms, therefore, providing quick and rapid access to the medical supplies.
 2. An advanced combat clothing concept including a shirt and trousers designed to carry specific designated supplies used by military medical officers, therefore, replacing the need for large back-packs and roll bags used for storing can carrying medical supplies during combat procedures.
 3. A combat uniform for military medics which can decrease fatigue, back injury, and chronic pain symptoms by means of dispersing the weight of the military supplies evenly over the wearer's body.
 4. A combat uniform design with a pull cord and pull string concept for accessing stored supplies located behind the back of the wearer's uniform.
 5. A combat uniform design in which a removable sleeve pocket receptacle device is used to stabilize stored items in the pocket from moving during combat or military drills. The method claimed in claim one refers to how the uniform pockets are designed and their location of the combat uniform itself. The trousers and the shirt combined can carry over one hundred required items as claimed herein. The method claimed in claim two is the ACUM replaces the need for carrying large back-packs and roll-up bags used by military medical officers today. The method claimed in claim three has to do with weigh distribution and location. By selectively placing the weight cargo around strategic areas of the body, this will decrease the risk of injury and chronic pain associated with poor lifting and carrying techniques. The method claimed in claim four has to do with how a particular item carried behind the back of an individual body can be retrieve by using a pull cord and pull string technique. The method claimed in claim five refers to how a simple membrane and a receptacle can be used together to stabilize any item which can fit into a given pocket. 